Method and apparatus for winding barbed wire onto a reel

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for winding up barbed wire from a field by utilizing a prime mover with a reel operatively rotatably attached to a forward portion thereof. A motor is operably attached to the reel for selectively controlling the rotation of the reel. A funnel-shaped guide member is attached to the prime mover in front of the reel for guiding the barbed wire onto the reel, whereby the prime mover may be driven forwardly as the motor rotates the wheel to wind the barbed wire onto the reel while at the same time the prime mover may be steered to the left or right as needed to cause level winding of the barbed wire onto the reel.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatusfor winding barbed wire onto a reel and more particularly to such aninvention using a side or front mounted motor-driven reel on a primemover such as a tractor to wind the wire onto the reel as the tractor isdriven forwardly.

[0002] There have been many devices designed for rolling wire onto areel. This problem is made more difficult when the wire to be rolled upis barbed wire of the type used for fencing in cattle or the like. U.S.Pat. Nos. 3,227,392 to Misegadis and 4,473,1 96 to Sammann et al. areexamples of rear-mounted wire rollers. In order to operate these rearmounted wire rollers, they either need to back up as the wire is rolledon the reel or they need to pull the wire along the ground with thetractor being stopped. Backing up is very difficult because of theproblem of steering while looking in a mirror or looking back over one'sshould while trying to move at the right speed and to keep the wiretight as the wire is wound onto the reel. If the tractor is stopped andthe wire is pulled along the ground, another major problem is created.When winding up barbed wire, grass, corn stalks and other trash from afield or pasture catches on the barbed wire, dragging such debris on theground and rolling the trash, grass or the like onto the spool of wirebeing formed, causing the spool to be uneven and laden with unwantedmaterials.

[0003] The prior art focuses on ways to mechanically cause the levelwinding of wire onto a wire reel attached to the rear of tractors or onsleds or trailers. However, because of the aforementioned problems thereis a need for a barbed wire winding apparatus which is mountable on aprime mover, such as a tractor, so that the operator can steer the primemover forwardly toward the wire to be wound, while at the same timeadjusting the speed of the wire reel to keep the wire tight while it isbeing wound onto the wheel. At the same time, there is a need for beingable to cause level winding of the wire onto the reel by a very simpleadjustment of steering the prime mover, rather than by complex levelwinding devices.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0004] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus forwinding up barbed wire from a field by having a prime mover with a reeloperatively rotatably attached to a forward portion of the prime mover.A motor is operably attached to the reel for selectively controlling therotation of the reel. A funnel-shaped guide member is attached to theprime mover in front of the reel for guiding the barbed wire onto thereel, whereby the prime mover may be driven forwardly as the motorrotates the reel to wind the barbed wire onto the reel while at the sametime the prime mover may be steered to the left or to the right asneeded to cause level winding of the barbed wire onto the reel.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an improvedmethod and apparatus for winding up barbed wire onto a reel.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a side orfront mounted barbed wire rolling apparatus so that the wire can berolled up while a prime mover to which it is attached is drivenforwardly.

[0007] A still further object of the present invention is to be able tosteer the prime mover to cause level winding of the wire instead ofusing complex level winding devices for this purpose.

[0008] Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention showing itattached to a tractor and in the process of using the wire windingdevice of the present invention;

[0010]FIG. 2 is a side elevational view showing the present inventionwith the tractor shown in dashed lines;

[0011]FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded view of the reel of the presentinvention showing how it fits on a spindle and has an outside portionthat can be separated from an inside portion to facilitate easy removalof a spool of wound wire therefrom;

[0012]FIG. 4 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 2 but showing insolid lines the frame and hydraulic motor which is biased to oneposition and showing in dashed lines the pulley and belt system, reeland wire guide funnel;

[0013]FIG. 5 is a partial top view of the hydraulic lines connected to ahydraulic motor and having a control valve disposed in a bypass linetherebetween; and

[0014]FIG. 6 shows how a coil of barbed wire can be removed from thereel once it is wound onto the reel by removing the outside portion ofthe reel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numeralsdesignate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views,FIG. 1 shows an apparatus (10) constructed in accordance with thepresent invention and mounted to the front side of a prime mover ortractor (11).

[0016] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, a frame for the wire winder (10)includes frame member (12) which is bolted to the tractor (11) by bolts(13) and (14). The frame member (12) also has upwardly extending framemembers (16) and (17) and a top frame member (18). Bolt (19) pivotallyattaches an elongated member (21) to upstanding frame member (17) and atension spring (22) is attached at the lower end to a pin (23) and atthe upper end to a hook (24) on hydraulic motor (26). The hydraulicmotor (26) is mounted to the end (27) of the pivoting member (21). Thehydraulic motor (26) has a inlet hose (28) and an outlet hydraulic hose(29) extending therefrom.

[0017] Looking to FIGS. 2 and 4, it can be seen that the reel (31),shown in dashed lines in FIG. 4, has a pulley (32) rigidly attachedthereto and the hydraulic motor (26) has a pulley (33) rigidly, butremovably, attached thereto so that when the hydraulic motor (26)rotates, the pulley (33), the pulley (32) and reel (31) will be rotateddue to friction with the belt (34) which extends around pulleys (32) and(33). The reel (31) is of a type that was manufactured by GeneralMachine Products Company of Trevose, Pa. as part number 183570. Otherreels can be used, instead of the one (31) shown and described.

[0018]FIG. 3 shows the reel (31) as being in two parts with an innerside (36) and an outer side (37). The inner side (36) has the pulley(32) attached thereto so that it rotates with the inner side (36) on hub(38). The outer side (37) of the reel (31) also has a hub (39). Spindle(41) welded to member (17), is provided so that the pulley (32), innerside (36) and outer side (37) can rotate around hubs (38) and (39). Whenthe reel (31) is on the spindle (41) and it can be secured by bolt (42)onto the threads (43) of the spindle (41). But when it is desired tomove a roll of wire (44) such as shown in FIG. 6, the nut (42) can betaken off of threads (43) and outer portion (37) of the reel can beremoved as shown in FIG. 6.

[0019] A funnel-like wire guide device (46), shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and6, is provided for guiding barbed wire (47) onto the reel (31) as canbest be seen in FIG. 1. The wire guiding mechanism (46) hasapproximately the same width at the smaller rear end thereof as thewidth of the reel (31) so that even if the tractor's forward directionis not aligned exactly with the longitudinal axis of the stretched wire(47), it will nevertheless be guided to the reel (31).

[0020] Referring to FIG. 5, it is noted that a bypass pipe (25) extendsacross from inlet line (28) to outlet line (29) which go to thehydraulic motor (26). When the handle (35) of the valve (30) is alignedwith the pipe (25), that means that the valve (30) is fully opened andall of the hydraulic fluid from the tractor (11) would be bypassedthrough the valve (30) and bypass connector (25) so that no flow wouldbe going through the inlet and outlet lines (28) and (29). At that time,the reel (31) would not be rotated by the hydraulic motor (26). Anyclosing of the valve (30) will cause flow through the lines (28) and(29), thereby causing the hydraulic motor to turn the pulley and beltsystem (32), (33) and (34) and thereby turn the reel (31).

[0021] In operation, the wire (47) could be attached at the left endthereof as shown in FIG. 1 to the fence or to anything heavy enough tokeep it tight and then connected to the spool along platform portions(45) of the spool reel (31) as shown in FIG. 3, for example. After thewire (47) is extended through the guide member (46) and is attached tothe reel (31), the reel (31) is rotated in the direction of the arrow inFIG. 2 by closing to some degree the valve (30), which is done by movingthe handle (35), for example to the one position shown in FIG. 5. Thiscauses flow into inlet line (28), through the hydraulic motor (26) andout the outlet (29).

[0022] At the same time that the spool or reel (31) is rotated to windup the wire (47), the tractor operator steers the tractor (11) forwardlyso as to keep the wire (47) tight. The combination of the forward speedof the tractor (11) and the speed of rotation of the reel (31) can beadjusted to keep the wire (47) tight before it is onto the reel (31),either by moving the tractor faster or slower or rotating the reelfaster or slower, or any combination thereof. This is easily done by thetractor operator because the valve (30) is within reach of the tractorseat.

[0023] If, for any reason, the force on the wire (47) is greater thanthe driving force of the reel (31) through pulleys (32), (33) and belt(34), then the belt (34) will slip on one or both of the pulleys (32)and (33) to prevent damage which would otherwise occur if a positivedriving system were used for the reel (31).

[0024] In order to make the reel (31) go faster by providing more powerthereto, the valve (30) is closed more; or, if it is desired to haveless rotating power to the reel (31), the valve (30) is opened more.

[0025] As the operator is driving the tractor (11) forwardly androtating the reel (31) to collect the barbed wire (47), the operator maysee that the wire is collecting on the inside of the reel (31) more thanon the outside of the reel, in which case the operator will steer thetractor to the right to cause more wire to collect on the outside of thereel (31). Conversely, if more wire is collecting on the coil in reel(31) on the outside thereof, then the operator would steer the tractor(11) slightly to the left and that will cause the wire to collect moreon the inside of the reel (31). This is a very simple, easy andinexpensive way to cause a level winding of the wire onto the reel (31)as compared to many complex mechanisms that have been devised for thispurpose in the prior art.

[0026] Once the spool (31) is full of barbed wire, the outer portion(37) of the spool, as shown in FIG. 3, is removed by removing the nut(42). Then the coil (44), as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 6, is takenoff of the inside portion (36) of the reel (31) as shown in FIG. 6. Toutilize the device again, it would be set up again as explained aboveand as shown in FIG. 1.

[0027] An important aspect of the invention is to mount the wire winderon a front portion of a prime mover so it can be used while driving theprime mover forwardly. It can be attached to the front bumper of apickup truck, for example, or to the front of a “four wheeler”,sometimes referred to as an all-terrain vehicle or ATV, instead of to atractor.

[0028] Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the preferred embodimentshown herein does indeed accomplish the aforementioned objects. It isnoted that the hydraulic motor (26) is only a preferred embodiment andthat it could be an electric motor or other type of motor instead.Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

1. Apparatus comprising: a prime mover having at least one pair ofground engaging wheels rotatable about a horizontal axis; a reeloperatively rotatably attached about an axis substantially parallel tosaid horizontal axis to a forward portion of said prime mover, said reelbeing for receiving barbed wire thereon; a motor operatively attached tosaid reel for selectively rotating said reel in at least one rotarydirection; and a guide member operatively attached to said prime moverin front of said reel for guiding said barbed wire therethrough to saidreel whereby said prime mover may be driven forward as said motorrotates said reel to wind the barbed wire onto the reel.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said motor is a hydraulic motor.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2 including an inlet and an outlet hydraulic lineoperatively attached to said hydraulic motor; a by-pass line operativelyattached to said inlet and outlet hydraulic lines and a control valvedisposed in said bypass line for use in controlling the rotation of thehydraulic motor, whereby a closing of the valve increases the force ofrotation of said hydraulic motor and opening the valve reduces or stopsthe rotation of the hydraulic motor.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinsaid reel has an inner side an outer side and a hub section connectingsaid first and second sides together; and, means for permitting saidouter side of said reel to be removed for facilitating easy removal ofsaid barbed wire when rolled into a coil on said reel.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein said motor is operatively attached to said reel by abelt and pulley system which permits said belt to slip on said pulleysystem when the force of pull on said barbed wire exceeds the drivingforce of the motor, pulley and belt system.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3wherein said valve is positioned within reach of an operator drivingsaid prime mover.